Vehicle-spring



0. M. BLYDENBURGH.

' Vehicle-Spring.

No. 225,965 7 Patented Mar. 30,1880.

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ll. PETERS, mUTHDGfiAPHEE WASHXNGTON. D, G.

elastic support CHARLES M. BLYDENBURGH,

FFICE.

OF RIVERHEAD, NEW YORK.

VEHICLE-SPRING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,965, dated March30, 1880. Application filed January 26, 1880.

To an whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES M. BLYDEN- BURGH. a resident of Riverhead,in the county of Suffolk and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Wagon'Springs; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an for the bed of a wagon,which may be cheaply made and readily interposed between the bed and therunning-gear of ordinary farm wagons or other vehicles, and which shallsubserve the purpose of the high elliptic springs in common use withouttheir objectionable features.

It consists in a novel combination, with each other and with transversestrips or rests, of long elastic bars of wood or metal crossing eachother near the center, to form an elastic frame, admitting of adjustmentand adaptation for light or heavy loads.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view, Fig. 2 aplan view, and Fig. 3 a side elevation, of my improved springattachment.

A A are longitudinal bars or strips of tough elastic wood or of lightspring metal, long enough to extend from end to end of the wagon. Thesestrips are arranged in pairs, two of them being coupled together by atransverse strip or cross-piece, B, placed at about one-fourth of theirlength from one end thereof, so as to be held at a width apart aboutequal to that of the bed of the wagon with which they are to be used,and the second pair are coupled in like manner at such a distance apartas to pass easily between the first pair. The one pair of barsis thenpassed between the other, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the longitudinalbars oneaeh side shall cross each other centrally of their length, ornearly so, with the free ends of each pair resting upon and supported bythe transverse strip coupling in Fig. 3.

The upper free ends of the bars may be secured either directly rests 0,upon which the other pair, as shown to cross-pieces or bodyis to beplaced the body or bed of the wagon, and which are provided withstud-staves L L, to secure the same, or to simple transverse connectingbars or rods, which shall serve to maintain their parallelism, and towhich the bed or body of the vehicle may be secured in any suitablemanner.

The lower ends of the bars A A are made to rest upon the bolsters D ofthe running-gear of the wagon, and are either secured directly theretoor to a separate cross-piece to be placed thereon and secured thereto.

The attachment of the cross-pieces O O to the longitudinal strips A Amay be effected by adjustable clips E, instead of by permanentfastenings, so as to admit of a change in their position to or from theends of the bars.

0 is a transverse bar or strip placed centrally over the intersection ofthe longitudinal bars, so as to afford a support to the body of thevehicle immediately upon the center of the springs.

In operation the weight of the body of the wagon and its contentscarried upon the free ends of the longitudinal spring-bars A A causesthem each to bend in a curve over the transverse bar upon which itsupper end rests and which is nearest thereto. At the same time theweight borne upon the central transverse strip, 0, has a tendency tocause the lower ends of each of the longitudinal bars to bend in a curveover the transverse bar near est its said lower end. The resilient forceof each longitudinal bar is thus brought into play in resisting thistension upon its opposite ends, (which operates to bend them in oppositedirections,) and alfords an elastic support to the superincumbentweight.

The flexion of the bars produced by the pressure upon their ends alonehas a tendency to bear upward the central portion of each, carryingtherewith the transverse bar F, restin g thereon,so that this bar, inturn, is made to sustain its due proportion of the load with all theelasticity due to this upward pressure of the longitudinal bars underflexion, as described.

Metallic plates H may be interposed between the bearing-surfaces of thecross-pieces B B G, with the longitudinal bars A A to prevent them fromwearing at these points.

The number of longitudinal bars may be increased, if desired, as shownin Fig. 2, in which case lighter and more elastic bars may be employedthan where but two on a side are used, as shown in Fig. 1; but in allcases the arrangement of the transverse bars B B and G is the same.

I do not claim, broadly, the use of longitudinal interlocking bars A Ato form an elastic support for the body of a wagon; nor do I claim thecombination, with each other, of interlocking slatted frames for saidpurpose; but

What I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A slatted spring-support for wagon-bodies, produced by thecombination of elastic longitudinal bars A A, which are crossed, at ornear their center,

with transverse supporting-bars B B, placed intermediate between thecenter and ends of the longitudinal bars, so that the ends of thelongitudinal bars shall support the load and be free to bend over thetransverse bars under its weight, substantially as and for the purposeherein set forth.

2. The combination, with the elastic intersecting longitudinal bars A A,crossed at or near their center and supported by transverse bars B B,interposed between the middle and ends thereof, of a central transverse'bar, 0, resting upon the longitudinal tion, substantially as and forthe purpose herein set forth.

CHARLES M. BLYDENBURGH. 'itnesses:

ELIJAH GRIsWoLD,

JAMES H. WARDLE.

bars at their interseco

